- 10th Day of 2012 / 356 Remaining
- 70 Days Until Spring Begins
- Sunrise:7:25
- Sunset:5:10
- 9 Hr 45 Min
- Moon Rise:7:05pm
- Moon Set:8:09am
- Moon’s Phase: 97 %
- The Next Full Moon
- February 7 @ 1:56pm
- Full Snow Moon
- Full Hunger Moon
Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.
- Tides
- High:12:01am/10:43am
- Low:4:55am/5:36pm
- Rainfall
- This Year:3.37
- Last Year:12.20
- Year To Date Average:9.48
- Annual Average: 22.28
- Holidays
- Woman's Suffrage Day
- National Clean Off Your Desk Day
- National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
- National Bittersweet Chocolate Day
- National Peculiar People Day
- Bittersweet Chocolate Day
- National Sturdy Flat-Heeled Shoes Appreciation Day
- Coming-of-Age Day-Japan
- Plough Monday-U.K.
- Traditional Day-Benin
- On This Day In History
- 1839 --- Indian tea became available in Britain for the first time. Up until this time only tea from China had been available, and that was very expensive. The development and import of Indian tea brought the price down so all could afford it, and it quickly became the national drink.
- 1946 --- The first General Assembly of the United Nations, comprising 51 nations, convenes at Westminster Central Hall in London, England. One week later, the U.N. Security Council met for the first time and established its rules of procedure. Then, on January 24, the General Assembly adopted its first resolution, a measure calling for the peaceful uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction.
- 1949 --- The Radio Corporation of America, sometimes known as RCA, announced a new 7-inch, 45-rpm phonograph record. Soon, the 45, the record with the big hole in the middle, would change the pop music business. RCA even manufactured a record player that played only 45s -- with a fat spindle that made “stacking wax” real simple and automatic for those romantic times when hands were just too busy to be flippin’ records.
- 1956 --- Elvis Presley recorded his first tunes as an RCA Victor artist. Recording in Nashville, Elvis sang Heartbreak Hotel, I Got a Woman and Money Honey. Heartbreak Hotel was #1 by April 11, 1956 and stayed there for eight weeks. It was #1 on the pop and rhythm and blues charts and number five on the country music list.
- 1960 --- Marty Robbins’ hit tune, El Paso, held the record for the longest #1 song to that time. The song ran 4 minutes and 20 seconds, giving many radio station program directors fits; because the average record length at that time was around 2 minutes, and formats didn’t allow for records much longer than that, (e.g., 2-minute record, 3 minutes for commercials, 60 seconds for promo, 2-minute record, etc.). DJs got used to the longer length quickly, however, realizing it gave them time, before the record ended, to actually think of something to say next...
- 1964 --- The Beatles' first album in the United States, "Introducing the Beatles," was released.
- 1971 --- "Masterpiece Theatre" premiered on PBS with host Alistair Cooke. The introduction drama series was "The First Churchills."
- 1982 --- 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark makes a leaping catch in the end zone on a pass from quarterback Joe Montana with 51 seconds left in the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game against the Dallas Cowboys. "The Catch" set up a successful extra point kick by Ray Wersching that lifted the 49ers to a 28-27 victory and a trip to Super Bowl XVI. The drive that set up Clark’s memorable catch began with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter, when the 49ers took over possession on their own 11-yard line, with the Cowboys leading 27-21. Over the next 12 plays, Montana passed seven times and called five running plays, effectively moving his team to third down-and-three at the Dallas six-yard line. Montana moved to his right at the snap, chased by three Cowboys. Looking for wide receiver Freddie Solomon, Montana spied Clark, wide open near the back of the end zone. Off balance, Montana lofted the ball in a high spiral towards the 6’4’’ Clark, who grabbed it for a touchdown to tie the score and enable Wersching to boot the game-winner through the uprights.
- 1984 --- Cyndi Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry [1967] to be nominated for five Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
- 1989 --- As part of an arrangement to decrease Cold War tensions and end a brutal war in Angola, Cuban troops begin their withdrawal from the African nation. The process was part of a multilateral diplomatic effort to end years of bloodshed in Angola—a conflict that, at one time or another, involved the Soviet Union, the United States, Portugal, and South Africa. Angola officially became an independent nation in 1975, but even before the date of independence, various groups within the former Portuguese colony battled for control. One group, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), received support from the United States; another, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), got much of its support from the Soviet Union and Cuba; and a third group, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), pragmatically took aid from whatever source was available, including South Africa and China. The United States, the Soviet Union, and China each believed Angola was a critical battlefield for political dominance in mineral-rich and strategically important southern Africa.
- 1990 --- The San Jose, California, library displayed a 30-foot banner which was supposed to say "Welcome" in 27 languages. It didn't. In 26 languages it said "welcome," and in native Filipino it said "circumcision." They took down the sign.
- 2004 --- Michelle Kwan won her seventh straight title and eighth overall at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Atlanta; Johnny Weir skated to his first men's title
- 2008 --- Tata Motors debuts the Nano, billing it as the world's cheapest car: The anticipated price tag is around $2,500. Tata, India's largest automaker, called the four-door, bubble-shaped mini-vehicle (it was just 5 feet wide and 10 feet long) the "People's Car" and declared that it would be a vehicle for families who previously hadn't been able to afford a car. (At the time, it wasn't uncommon to see an entire family precariously packed onto a single motorbike.)The Nano was originally scheduled to go on sale in October 2008; however, production delays arose because of a land dispute in West Bengal, where the car's production plant was being built. The company opted to move its production facilities to another part of India and the Nano officially went on sale across the country in April 2009. The basic model carried a starting price of approximately $2,000 (not including taxes) and came without a radio, air conditioning, airbags, power steering or power windows. It had a body made of plastic and sheet metal and a 32-horsepower, 624cc two-cylinder rear-mounted engine, and it could reach speeds of 65 miles per hour.
- Birthdays
- Pat Benatar
- Shawn Colvin
- Sen Mark Pryor
- Willie McCovey
- Rod Stewart
- Scott McKenzie
- Ronnie Hawkins
- George Foreman
- Sen Roy Blunt
- Ray Bolger
- Ethan Allen
- Max Roach
- Johnnie Ray
- Maurice Sendak
- Sal Mineo
- Jim Croce
- Donald Fagen
- Cyril Neville